Toaster, etc.



Jan 2, 1923.

TOASTER, ETc. FILED Fee. I. 1922. 2 swears-sneer 2 flak/'2" 85 s, GHQ (mug aqua to; (CZ oils;

Jan. 2, 1923.

H. C. LYONS. ToAsTER, F1 LED FEE 2 SHEETS'SHEET 1 anvemtoz HARRY C. IEEZQNS, 035 NEW? YDltX, N. Y.

TOAST'JR, ETC.

Application filled February 1, 192%.

To all whom; it may concern:

Be it known that'l, Hanna C. Lrons, a citizen Off the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toasters, Etc, of which the following is a cation. 7

While applicable for use generally, -my improved toasting apparatus is designed more particularly to meet the requirements ..rding houses, hotels, restaurants, etc., a'tively large quantities of toastedbread are required periodically or continuously the object of my invention being,

y, to increase the output, economisc time and labor, and to produce a product of uniform quality; and secondarily, to attain these results by means of compact apparatus occupyin a minimum of floor space, and adapted For installation in areas and locations that would otherwise he unavailable for the purpose, all fully set forth. 4

To this end, the invention consists in the specific construction, combination, and arrangement of parts and elements herein de scribed and claimed, a distinctive feature being use of an endless upright toasting apron and parallel. heating means arranged in vertical alignment, or substantially so, whereby the requisite basic support is rendered comparatively slight in area as related to the extension and operative working requirements of the apparatus, considered in a unitary sense. In other words, the gist of the invention. may be said to consist essentially in positioning and supporting the apparatus up on end, or in essentially vertical extension, as compared with the method heretofore resorted to in the state of the 7 art, in which the travelling toasting apron, heating means, etc, are or have been extended in horizontal alignment and parallelism with the supporting surface, which arrangement must thus necessarily maximum of area and floor space.

t will thus be seen that, since it is obvious that the capacity or out-put of the apparatus must necessarily be restricted to the available length of the endless toasting apron, and the opposed heating elements used in conjunction therewith, 1 am enabled by my improvement, construction and arrangement of parts and elements, to extend the available length of my apparatus indefipractical in conjunction as hereinafter paratus in which electric involve a.

Serial nitely within a fined, minimum area of floor space and'support, which is a great advantage under ordinary conditions of use and installation, and especially so in situations and environments which render economy of floor space the main desideratum,

In the accompanying drawings 1 represent more or less symbolically operative means for the embodiment of the essential features ofmy invention in practical form with alternative heating methods or elements. heing understood however that I do not limit and restrict myself in thisparticular to the identical form and construction shown, since various modifications in details and arrangement of parts and appurtenances may he resorted to in adapting the apparatus to location and environment without departing from the spirit and intent of my invention in this respect, and with substantially like results.

With this understanding,

Fi 1 is a front elevation of my improved toasting apparatus in which gas heating elements are employed; i T

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a' vertical sectional elevation, upon a smaller scale, showing a form of apheating elements are employed;

Fig. 4. is a detail view illustrative of an electrical resistance heating. means, such as used in the preceding figure;

Fig. 5 is a frontal sectional view showing a form of my upright toasting apparatus in which gas is used as the heating medium;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation taken upon plane of line 6-45, Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken upon plane of line 7-7, Figs. 1 and 2, but on a reduced scale;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a toast shelf suitable for incorporation with my endless travelling upright toaster apron;

Fig. 9, is a diagrammaticrepresentation illustrative of an electrical heating element and system suitable for use in conjunction with my endless vertical travelling toaster apron.

The base B, of my new and improved toastingapparatus may be of any suitable or desired form and constructionprovided it is adapted to be rigidly attached to a floor or other fixed support. A superstructural casing G, rests upon and is rigidly secured to said base The lower sprocket drum 6, is mounted in the base B, and the upper sprocket drum 0, is mounted in the upper part of the casing, the two being connected by sprocket chains s, s, so as to rotate in unison, the rotative power being aplied to either, as'by a pulley 39, shown n igs. 1, 2 and 4, as applied to the-'shaft f the upper drum 0, although any other dr ving mechanism may. be substituted with like effect,the object being to afford means for actuating the endless apron A, supported upon and extending between said sprocket drums b, c, which, being of equal diameter,

impart a taut uniform motion to said endless travelling apron A, in the direction indicated by the arrowsin Figs. 3 and 6 of the drawings.

The said endless apron A, is provided with transversely positioned shelves or holders a, (1, adapted to afford support, on the upward travelling side or strand of the apron, for slices of bread t, or other food to be toasted, but to automatically release such slices from the b ight portion of the apron A, passing over the upper sprocket drum 0, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 6, particularly. The

toasted product thus released from the upper bight of the endless apron A, may-be received into a discharge chute 0, or otherwise disposed of as may be found most expedient or convenient under the circumstances of installation and use of the appa.

ratus.

The toast slices t, may be fed to the. lower part of the endless apron A, automatically, or by hand through an aperture 0 formed for the purpose in the lower front portion of the casing C, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3 and 6.

The upward travelling strand of the toasting apron A, passes in juxtaposition to heating means h, adapted to impart the requisite degree of heat to the slices if, exposed thereto, and such heating means is preferably duplicated on each side of said upward travelling strand of the apron A, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3 and 6 of'the drawings, so as to toast both sides of the slices simultaneously. although this is not an indispensible feature since the slices't, might obviously be passed through the apparatus twice if only one heating element were provided therein.

The endless travelling apron, as shown in the accompanying drawings, is presumed to consist of a woven wire other form of flexible apron'may be utilized for the purpose, as may be found most expedient in practice.

In. so far as the heating elements 71., are concerned, these also may be of any suitable character. Thus in Figs. 3, 4, and 9, of the drawings, the use of electrical resistance heating elements is indicated, whereas in the in locations,

, support at' both extremities thereof.

same as herein set. forth.

belt, although any insures other figures of the drawings the heating elements are gas-burner pipes, adapted for connection with a suitable source of gas supply.

comparison of a transverse horizontal sectional area of my improved toasting apparatus as related to the height thereof (which is only limited by the height of the compartment in which the. apparatus is installed) .willgive a fair idea of the economy of floorspace attained as related to the prior state of the art, in which'the greater extension of apparatusis horizontal, and parallel to the floor space preempted thereby. Thus my apparatus isavailable and adapted for installation and use under conditions, and that would be prohibitory in so far as the priorstate of the art is concerned. v In this connection it may be stated .that by the term upright as herein employed, I mean to designate any substantially or approximately upward extension, from the supporting base, of the endless toasting apron and theheating means used in conjunction therewith, in contradistinction to the oldmethod of horizontal extension, and Forzinstance, it is obvious that, provided the'basic support is ample and secure,,the actual upward. extension of the said operative parts and elements of my new upright toasting apparatus may be inclined materiallyfrom the actual perpendicular as related to such basic support, with like or analogous results, without deviating fromthis invention.

Furthermore by the term toast slice supports in the claims I intend to designate and include any suitable means for carrying slices of bread or the like on the upward travelling strand of the endless apron.

It is to be understood that I do not limit t on of parts herein shown and described,

'slnce various modifications may be resorted to in details without departing from the spirit and intent of my invention in this re,- spect. For instance, the apparatus may be so arranged and operated as to feed the toast slices onto holders on the downward travelling strand of' the endless apron, the heating means beingarranged accordingly, and.

the result attained being essentially the to secure. by-Letters Patent 15,

1. Toasting apparatus of the character designated, comprising a basic support and superstructure, an endless travelling toasting apron mounted thereon in upright extension as related to said basic support, toast-slice supporting means on said travelling toasting apron, meansfor imparting motion to said toasting apron, and heating means positioned in substantial parallelism What I claim as my invention and desire metres to the upward travelling strand of said lingtoasting apronpmeans for imparting toasting apron, for the purpose, and submotion to said toasting apron,-and heating stantially as set forth. means positioned in substantial parallelism 25 2. Toasting apparatus of the character thereto for the purpose, andsubstantially as designated, comprising a basic support and set forth.

superstructure, an endless travelling toast- 4:. Toasting. apparatus of the character ing apron mounted thereon in upright ex designated, comprising a basic support and tension as related to said' basic support, superstructure, an endless travelling toast- 30 toast-slice supporting means on said traveling apron mounted thereon -,in upright exling toasting apron, means for imparting tension as related to' said basic support, motion to said toasting apron, and heating toast-slice supporting means on said travel means positioned on both .s1des"of, and in ling toasting apron, means for imparting substantial parallelism to, the upward travmotion to said toasting apron, and heating 35 ellin strand of said toasting apron,.submeans positioned on both sides offand n. stantlally in the manner and for the pur substantial parallelism thereto, substanpose described. tia-lly in the manner and for the purpose de- 3. Toasting apparatus of the character scribed.

designated comprising a basic support and superstructure, an endless travelling toast- HARRY LYONS' ing apron mounted thereon in upright ex- Witnesses:

tension as related to said bas c support, Gno. WM. MIATT, toast-slice support ng means on'saidtravel- DOROTHY M, GARMIOHAEL. 

